by Susan Stoker
“Tomorrow. Eleven o’clock in the morning.”
Hope wanted to agree right away. The sooner she paid the money, the sooner she’d get Billy back. “Fine. But how do I know you’ll let Billy go if I give you the money?”
“You don’t. You’ll just have to take that chance,” the kidnapper said. “Sucks to have to rely on someone else for something you want, doesn’t it? Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you screwed people over. If you don’t show tomorrow, or if you try to trick me, you’ll never see your precious mute again.”
“Wait, I—” But the person on the other end of the line had already hung up. Hope spun and looked at Calder with big eyes. “Was it long enough? I tried to get her to—”
“Shhh,” Calder soothed. “It was long enough.”
“Are you sure?”
“We’re sure,” Quint said. He still had his cell phone up to his ear. “Beth is tracking the number now. She says she’s also working to strip out the layers of the digital alteration too. Says she’ll have an unaltered file to us in about thirty minutes so we can see if we recognize the voice.”
Hope blinked. “That fast?”
Quint grinned. “She apologizes that it’ll take so long. Says since she’s doing two things at once, triangulating the number and stripping the file, it’ll take a little longer.”
Calder turned to Quint. “Have her check the waitresses who worked at the diner. I can’t think of anyone else who might think Hope screwed them over.”
“Seriously?” Hope asked, her brows drawn down in a frown.
“I don’t know for sure, but it makes sense,” Calder told her. Ignoring the conversation Quint was having with Beth, passing his request on to her, Calder cradled Hope’s face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers. “Hang on, Hope. Just hang on.”
“I’m trying,” she whispered, grabbing his wrists and squeezing. “Are you okay?”
He huffed out a breath. “No.”
For some reason, his answer made her smile. “Me neither.”
“I know.”
The next thirty minutes were the longest of Hope’s life. She held on to Calder’s hand, digging her nails into his skin, needing him there to keep her from flying into a million pieces. She had no idea how she was going to get half a million dollars to the drop-off point by the next day. It wasn’t the money, she didn’t care about that. She’d give up everything she had and gladly live on the streets again, if it meant having Billy back safe and sound.
“How much does five hundred thousand dollars weigh, anyway?” Mickie asked. “I mean, the kidnapper said she wanted it in small bills. Will it even fit inside a trash can?”
“If it’s a big trash can, possibly,” Cruz said. “But the weight is the bigger issue. Five hundred thousand in one-hundred-dollar bills weighs about ten pounds. But in fifties, it doubles to twenty pounds. And in twenties, it’s around fifty pounds. So that would mean a hell of a big duffle bag to put all those bills in. And the trash cans in Bamberger Park aren’t exactly Dumpsters.”
“Not to mention there’s absolutely no place to hide out there. I mean, it’s a nature reserve, yes, but someone emptying that trash can of all those bills won’t exactly be inconspicuous. They have to know we’ll be casing the place, waiting on them to pick up the cash,” Quint said.
“Well, obviously the person isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer,” Joseph said dryly.
“They were smart enough to take Billy without anyone noticing,” Hope said softly.
“Don’t give up,” Calder ordered, squeezing her hand. “When this person comes to pick up the money, we’ll grab her and make her tell us where Billy is.”
“What if she’s already hurt him, and that’s why she didn’t want to do the proof-of-life thing?”
“You can’t think that way,” Mickie said. “You can’t ever give up.”
Hope saw Cruz put his hand on Mickie’s shoulder and squeeze. She’d heard their story, and knew what Mickie said was true, but it was really hard to think positive.
Quint’s phone rang, and Hope jumped about a foot.
“Easy, sweetheart,” Calder murmured, but Hope could feel the tension in his muscles. He was just as worried and scared as she was, he was merely hiding it better.
“Hello?” Quint said. “I’m going to put you on speaker, Beth. Hang on. Okay, go ahead.”
“Hi, can you guys hear me?” Everyone said they could and the computer genius continued. “Okay, so I stripped out the kidnapper’s voice from the lame alteration she used. It was a shitty program that she downloaded from the Internet. It took me like two seconds to separate her real voice from the digital alteration. You ready to listen?”
“Ready, sweetheart?” Calder asked softly.
She wasn’t, but Hope nodded anyway.
“Play it,” Quint ordered.
There was a pause before the recording played, but the second Hope heard the woman speak, she knew who it was. “That’s Donna.”
“Who?” Cruz asked.
“Donna Swann. She was a waitress with me at the diner,” Hope said.
Joseph had been sitting off to the side, listening to everything that had been going on. “That fucking bitch!” he exclaimed, struggling to get to his feet. “I can’t believe it, after everything I did for her. She was a piss-poor waitress but I still didn’t fire her. Nope, I knew she needed the money. I even paid her a month’s severance after the diner burned down.”
“Did she have a boyfriend?” Cruz asked. “An ex? A brother? Someone who might have helped her?”
“Hope?” Calder asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. We weren’t exactly close.”
“A brother,” Joseph confirmed. “Lincoln Swann. He worked for me too about a year ago, but it didn’t work out. He was lazy as hell, and when I caught him dipping into the cash register, I fired him. Donna wasn’t working that day. Since I didn’t have any reason to can her too, I let her stay on. I kept my eye on her for a while but she never did anything suspicious.”
“Beth?” Cruz asked.
“On it,” came Beth’s voice from Quint’s phone. Everyone could hear keys clacking in the background as Beth began typing. “I had already traced the call to within a ten-mile radius, but since we know who was on the other end of the line now, and who her brother is, I’m guessing we don’t need that anymore… Ah!” she exclaimed. “Bingo. Stupid bitch called from her brother’s house. The phone seems to be a throwaway, but it’s still on and pinging off a cell tower near his house.”
“Was he the one who went to the school the other day and who took Billy?” Mackenzie asked.
“Hang on, hang on,” Beth complained. “One thing at a time. Let me pull up that other surveillance…okay…comparing…oh, yeah…that’s definitely him. And, as you know, the video from today was grainy, but the general characteristics, hair color, height, and build, match what’s on Lincoln’s driver’s license. I’ll let you know if I find out anything else.”
“You’re the best. Thanks, Beth.”
“Shut up,” she chided. “You don’t thank me for taking care of family. Especially not when there’s a kid involved.” Then she abruptly hung up.
Hope looked around the room, wondering why Cruz and the other law enforcement guys weren’t rushing out of the house to arrest Donna and Lincoln and to get Billy back. “Why aren’t you going to get my son?” she asked.
Calder was the one who spoke up. He turned her face to his. “We can’t just rush over to their house and knock the door down,” he said softly.
“Why not? It’s her. I know it’s her! Even Joseph knows it’s her!”
“They have to do everything by the book to make sure they don’t get away with it,” Calder said. “Search warrants, things like that. Besides, Beth doesn’t work for law enforcement. Yes, she’s a consultant, but she has to get the files to the FBI’s data folks so they can officially analyze them.”
“But, Calder, she’
s got Billy!” Hope said, tears filling her eyes. “What if they’re hurting him? We can’t sit here and do nothing while they hurt my baby!”
Calder pulled her into his embrace and Hope fought against him. She didn’t want to be held. She wanted to do something. Go to Lincoln’s house and force him to tell her what they’d done with Billy. To get him back.
Calder didn’t even seem to notice her struggles, he simply buried his nose in her hair and held on tighter. Eventually, the fight drained out of Hope and she clung to Calder as tightly as he was holding her.
“I’m sending men over there right now,” Cruz said. “They’ll keep an eye on both Donna and Lincoln. If they go anywhere, they’ll follow them and check things out.”
“They’re not going to hurt Billy,” Joseph said.
Hope looked at him. “How do you know?”
“Because they just want the money. I heard her bitching with the other waitresses about you winning that money. Hannah demanded you give her and the other waitresses a cut of your winnings, and I know Donna agreed with her. I should’ve thought about them when the diner burned down. Even that graffiti that was painted on the side of the building makes sense now. ‘Mine.’ She thinks the money should be hers.”
“Do you remember them coming in and beating you up?” Quint asked.
Joseph shook his head. “No. I still can’t remember anything about that night. But if Lincoln was involved, it would’ve been fairly easy. He knew the layout of the restaurant. I’m guessing he thought the place would be empty, and when he broke in and realized I was still there, and saw him, he panicked. Beat on me, trapped me in my office, and set the place on fire. I’m lucky I didn’t die…but he also lucked out because I don’t remember anything that happened.”
“I’m guessing maybe torching the place wasn’t his original plan,” Dax added. “I mean, he was probably just going to rob you, but when he went into your office where the safe was and found you, he probably freaked. Figured you’d rat him out.”
“Here’s what I propose,” Cruz said. “But, Hope, the decision is yours.”
Hope looked up from where she was huddled against Calder. “What?”
“We’ll get a duffle and stuff it with both fake money and real bills on top. You’ll make the drop tomorrow at the park. You’ll be covered at all times by all of us. We’ll make sure they don’t hurt you in any way. At the same time, we’ll raid Lincoln’s house. If Billy’s there, we’ll get him to safety while Donna and Lincoln are otherwise occupied.”
“What if only one of them goes to the park to get the money?” Calder asked.
“Then we’ll arrest whoever stays back at the house,” Cruz said. “And the second the money is grabbed, we’ll arrest whoever is there to pick it up. If we haven’t found Billy at that point, we’ll interrogate both of them until they tell us where he is.”
“I’m not sure I can wait until tomorrow,” Hope said softly. “That means Billy’ll have to spend the night somewhere without me. Probably scared out of his mind. What if they’ve hurt him? What if they’ve stashed him somewhere? What if they never say where he is?”
“Is there anything we can do tonight?” Calder asked his friends quietly.
Hope watched as Cruz pressed his lips together tightly before saying, “Unfortunately, no. Not legally. Beth’s sending the information she has to the FBI and it’ll take them some time to get what they need out of it. Then we’ll need to get search warrants so we can enter Lincoln and Donna’s residences legally.”
“Then we’ll wait until tomorrow,” Calder said, a note of resignation in his tone. He turned to Hope. “I hate this just as much as you do, sweetheart. But we have to believe in Billy. He’s smart. He’s tough. He knows we’re looking for him and he’ll do whatever it takes to hang on until you can get to him.”
Hope closed her eyes in despair…and nodded. She knew she didn’t have a choice. Tomorrow seemed like forever away. All she could do was hope and pray that Lincoln and Donna hadn’t done anything drastic to her little boy. As long as they hadn’t killed him, they could work through everything else together when he was home.
She heard Mackenzie and Mickie saying their goodbyes and heard people moving around, but she didn’t open her eyes and she didn’t move from her spot in Calder’s arms on the couch.
When it was quiet, Joseph asked, “Do either of you want something to eat?”
“No, thanks, Joseph,” Calder answered.
“I’m so sorry this happened,” the older man said. “I feel as if it’s my fault.”
Hope’s eyes popped open at that. “This is not your fault,” she said firmly. “It’s theirs. Two greedy assholes who are pouting that they didn’t get that money. Maybe if Donna was nicer, I would’ve shared it with her, but she wasn’t and I didn’t. That doesn’t make it my fault. Or yours. Or Eli’s or Billy’s.”
“Proud of you, Hope,” Joseph said. Then he pushed himself to his feet and headed for his room.
When it was just the two of them in the living room, Calder turned until they were both lying on the couch. Hope’s back was against the cushions of the sofa and her front was plastered to Calder. He held on to her just as tightly as she held him. She knew Calder was just as worried about Billy as she was.
“When we have Billy back, and things settle down, I’m going to ask you to marry me,” Calder said quietly several minutes later. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Billy. I want to give you more children to fill this house of ours.”
“Calder, I—”
He put a finger over her lips, stopping her words. “When I got the call that Billy was missing, I panicked. That kid has burrowed his way into my heart just as much as his mom has. Don’t ever be afraid to call me, Hope,” he chastised gently. “I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing, if you need me, you call.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“You’re more important to me than my job, or anything else. I’ve never felt like this before. I love you, Hope. I want to wake up with you beside me every day for the rest of my life and I want to go to sleep with you at my side as well. I’m just giving you warning that my proposal’s coming. Whatever kind of wedding you want, you’ll have. Big, small, whatever. You’ve been through enough, and it’s time you and Billy started experiencing the good that life has to offer rather than the shit. Got it?”
“Got it,” she parroted quietly.
He didn’t say anything else. They lay that way for hours. Neither sleeping, just soaking up as much love from each other as they could and watching the clock slowly tick away the seconds. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.
Billy tightened his arms around his drawn-up legs and buried his nose in his knees. He was scared and a little cold, but not as cold as he’d sometimes been when he and his mom had to sleep out in the open at night.
The wood planks under his butt hurt, but he barely noticed. The only sound he heard was the leaves rustling overhead and the occasional dog barking. Sleeping outside in the suburbs at night was very different from being in the city. It was a lot darker, for one. Billy could barely see his hand in front of his face. But it also felt safer. There weren’t as many people around, and he would definitely hear if someone approached.
Billy didn’t dare move from his hiding spot. Didn’t try to go for help. The man could be out there. Waiting for him to show his face so he could try to grab him again. His mom had always told him that if he got lost, he needed to stay still. That she’d do whatever it took to find him.
And he knew without a doubt that his mom, and Calder, were looking for him. He’d heard sirens earlier and had hoped they’d come closer, but they never did. But he didn’t lose hope. He was Billy Drayden, and he was one tough, strong little boy. Calder had said so.
One tear escaped before he took a deep breath and forced the rest back. He was seven, almost eight, too big to be crying.
Closing his eyes, Billy spoke for the first time in over a year. His voice felt rust
y, and his words were only a whisper, but they were there.
“I’m here, Mom. Please come find me.”
Chapter Sixteen
Calder looked over Hope’s shoulder as they watched the surveillance tape Beth had emailed over. She’d obviously been up all night, like they had, and had gathered more videos, the best of which was the one from a traffic camera at an intersection near the school. Any of the other law enforcement officers could’ve gotten the tapes and reviewed them, but having Beth obtain them was faster…even if it wasn’t exactly legal. At the moment, however, no one cared about that. They were only concerned about finding Billy.
It was a little past eight the next morning and the entire team was gathered at Calder’s house once more. Everyone was there, Joseph, Cruz, Quint, Wes, Hayden, Conor, and TJ.
“Keep your eye on the back corner of the playground,” Cruz told everyone.
Calder felt Hope lean forward and knew she was squinting at the screen. They’d seen this tape at the school the day before, but the others were viewing it for the first time. Seeing it again was just as horrifying as it was yesterday. Hope was shaking, the horror of watching her son being kidnapped obviously making her distraught.
Hope reached out and grabbed Calder’s hand and squeezed as they watched what had happened the day before.
A man approached the far side of the fence—it was impossible to identify the person because of the distance and the quality of the video—and stood there for a second. Then, as a group of children ran by, the boy at the back of the group stopped to speak to the man.
Twenty seconds later, the man abruptly reached over the four-foot fence and grabbed the child, hauling him over the chain-link fence easily. The child struggled, but was carried off, out of the view of the cameras covering the school playground.
The entire abduction had taken only thirty seconds, if that.
“Why’d he stop?” Quint asked.
“I don’t know,” Hope said softly, her eyes still staring at the computer screen. The video had been stopped, but she didn’t take her eyes off it, as if the footage would continue and show Billy coming back into the frame. “Maybe he thought he recognized him, even though he’s never met him. But he probably said something that caught his attention. Whatever Lincoln said after that though, it obviously alarmed Billy.” She looked up at Calder. “Did you see him take a step away right before Lincoln reached over the fence? He knew something was wrong.”